BronyFair

By years – photos, videos, and reports

About the event

BronyFair was always held on the first weekend in April. The main idea was to create an MLP: FiM event that includes not only a traditional convention program but also activities known from meetups with an emphasis on competitions and games.

While there was no pre-party in the first year, in 2016 a pre-party was held in the restaurant next to the venue. Both times the con took place in the large premises of the cultural house in the city center. The courtyard of the building lies off the main road and provided additional space for participants to meet.

The program consisted of traditional parts, such as a cosplay competition, guest panels, community panels, evening concert, charity auction, etc. but, unlike other events, the accompanying program consisted largely of community activities. Organizers invited one guest from the original production of MLP: FiM, but especially community guests from both Europe and overseas.

The biggest one was the Iron Pony Competition, which took place throughout the event and consisted of many disciplines, such as throwing a horseshoe or a bale of straw, shooting at a changeling, tug of war, or riding a mechanical bull. At the end of the con, the three winners won trophies and prizes. Everyone could take part and it was definitely great fun that attendees could enjoy at any time during the con.

Another unique thing was the cosplay cafe: a small cafe with seating in the con premises with MLP: FiM cosplay service, cut out from Sugarcane Corner, provided by the Straw’n‘Berries group. Tea, coffee, or desserts from Applejack tasted great!

It is definitely worth mentioning the unique large-format decoration in many places and also the vendor hall. Thanks to the size of the venue and the number of participants, it was easy to find a quieter place to meet other participants.

History

The first year was created with the idea of organizing an event that will not copy the classic con program but will include a number of community activities. And although BronyFair, according to the organizers, faced many problems, this goal was certainly achieved.

The financial pitfalls of 2015 were partially carried over to the next year 2016, and when the situation did not improve further, the following year 2017 was canceled, although its preparation was already underway. In the final official statement, the organizers mention that “the brony fandom does not need another Las Pegasus”. In the same statement, they state that future plans counted with the current format of the event focusing on community activities, but the development was more towards “Another German MLP: FiM con, always the second one after GalaCon”, so finally considering the complexity of organizing such an event, the decision to end BronyFair was made.

Mascot

The mascot of BronyFair is Unity – a light brown unicorn pony with a yellow-black-white mane and a white spot on the left front hoof. Her cutie mark consists of two intertwined horseshoes (gold and silver), usually depicted with a necklace forming a blue gem in an inverted horseshoe and feathers in her mane. Her right eye is green and the left one blue.

Although BronyFair ended as an event, Unity (especially in her plush form) still travels around the world – photos from her travels can still be found on Twitter.